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Ocean Gate NJ police officer killed by DUI driver www.privateofficer.com
TOMS RIVER NJ Nov 27 2010 — A police officer who just finished his shift after working a special anti-drunken driving detail was killed early Thursday when a man later charged with driving drunk crashed into his vehicle on the Garden State Parkway.
The officer, Jason C. Marles, 32, of the Ocean Gate police department had worked the drunken-driving patrol from midnight to 3 a.m., said Sgt. Julian Castellanos, spokesman for the State Police. Leaving work, Marles was still in uniform and driving his 1995 Jeep Cherokee northbound in the right lane near mile marker 83.3 when a 2010 BMW X7 struck him from behind, Castellanos said. The accident was reported 22 minutes after Marles’ shift ended, he said. The officer was pronounced dead at the scene, said Castellanos.
Authorities said the driver of the BMW sport-utility vehicle, Erick P. Uzcategui, 31, of Manchester has been charged with vehicular homicide and drunken driving. He was being held Thursday night in the Ocean County Jail, here, in lieu of $250,000 bail.
The force of the crash caused Marles’ Jeep to spin, strike a guardrail, run off the roadway then overturn, eventually resting on its roof against a pine tree before being engulfed in flames, according to Castellanos.
The Uzcategui vehicle bounced off the center guardrail and came to a stop on the right side of the Jeep, said Castellanos. Several passengers in the BMW fled the scene but were apprehended by Toms River police and state troopers, according to Castellanos.
Speaking at an afternoon news conference, Ocean Gate Police Chief Reece Fisher and other town officials called Marles a “dedicated officer” who was especially skilled at mentoring area children and keeping them out of trouble.
“He will be sorely missed,” Fisher said. “It will be a very difficult void to fill.”
Marles’ patrol car sat draped in flowers and black bunting at police headquarters on Thursday afternoon, as many residents came by to share their grief and express their sympathies to his colleagues on the eight-member Ocean Gate force.
“We are obviously devastated by the loss of this officer,” Ocean County Prosecutor Marlene Lynch Ford said in a statement. “Our condolences are extended to his family . . . (and) to the colleagues and officers who worked with Officer Marles.”
Marles, a Berkeley resident and an Ocean Gate police officer for nine years, leaves behind a wife and two young children.
Anyone who may have witnessed the collision or who may have information regarding this case is asked to call State Police Troop E Detectives at 732-441-4500 ext. 2372 or Detective David Margentino at 732-929-2027 ext. 2946.
Source:AP
The officer, Jason C. Marles, 32, of the Ocean Gate police department had worked the drunken-driving patrol from midnight to 3 a.m., said Sgt. Julian Castellanos, spokesman for the State Police. Leaving work, Marles was still in uniform and driving his 1995 Jeep Cherokee northbound in the right lane near mile marker 83.3 when a 2010 BMW X7 struck him from behind, Castellanos said. The accident was reported 22 minutes after Marles’ shift ended, he said. The officer was pronounced dead at the scene, said Castellanos.
Authorities said the driver of the BMW sport-utility vehicle, Erick P. Uzcategui, 31, of Manchester has been charged with vehicular homicide and drunken driving. He was being held Thursday night in the Ocean County Jail, here, in lieu of $250,000 bail.
The force of the crash caused Marles’ Jeep to spin, strike a guardrail, run off the roadway then overturn, eventually resting on its roof against a pine tree before being engulfed in flames, according to Castellanos.
The Uzcategui vehicle bounced off the center guardrail and came to a stop on the right side of the Jeep, said Castellanos. Several passengers in the BMW fled the scene but were apprehended by Toms River police and state troopers, according to Castellanos.
Speaking at an afternoon news conference, Ocean Gate Police Chief Reece Fisher and other town officials called Marles a “dedicated officer” who was especially skilled at mentoring area children and keeping them out of trouble.
“He will be sorely missed,” Fisher said. “It will be a very difficult void to fill.”
Marles’ patrol car sat draped in flowers and black bunting at police headquarters on Thursday afternoon, as many residents came by to share their grief and express their sympathies to his colleagues on the eight-member Ocean Gate force.
“We are obviously devastated by the loss of this officer,” Ocean County Prosecutor Marlene Lynch Ford said in a statement. “Our condolences are extended to his family . . . (and) to the colleagues and officers who worked with Officer Marles.”
Marles, a Berkeley resident and an Ocean Gate police officer for nine years, leaves behind a wife and two young children.
Anyone who may have witnessed the collision or who may have information regarding this case is asked to call State Police Troop E Detectives at 732-441-4500 ext. 2372 or Detective David Margentino at 732-929-2027 ext. 2946.
Source:AP
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